All I Can Give
by DCgirl
Summary: A future fic featuring Lian's confrontation of Cheshire


"ALL I CAN GIVE"  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine...yadda yadda..I'm just having fun with them. I'll give them back after I'm done...no really i will. *grins*  
  
Cheshire ran, dodging the clumsy police officers. They were no match for her, slow and sluggish with hardly any reflexes. They were down with no idea what hit them before their coffee hit the ground. Leaping over the hood of the squad car she managed to work herself free of the handcuffs that held her arms behind her, even as her boots came in contact with the pavement. The moment both feet were firmly under her, Cheshire sprinted forward for all she was worth, as if to leave her heavy heart and troubled life behind. She had gotten past the police barricade, and was only two blocks from the harbor--and freedom when the object of her heartache appeared in front of her causing her to come to a skidding halt. She stood there panting lightly from the hard sprint, not daring to move a muscle.  
  
There, in front of her, stood a young woman of her own height with A red wrap-around that normally hooded her head, adorned her shoulders falling back to reveal long silky black hair hanging down her back and pulled into a ponytail. A nightstar lensed mask would usually have masked her soft brown almond shaped eyes, but now they were dark and hard showing little or no compassion, empathy, or sympathy. Only anger. In the girls hands was a fully strung bow, pulled back with the ease and grace of a pro. The young woman was Lian. Her daughter. Her child. And that arrow was pointed directly at Cheshire. "Lian--" she started.  
  
"DON'T." came the harsh answer.  
  
Jade stopped talking abruptly, she slowly raised her hands as much to show she was empty handed as to plead with.  
  
"How DARE you?" Lian continued. " How dare you come back, show up like nothing happened after what you did?" she accused, her voice cold and seemingly inlaid with steel.  
  
Chesire blinked, a little taken aback by the ferocity laced in those words. Inside she could feel her heart was twisting like someone was turning a knife in it. Looking over at the young archers she could see that her body was almost shaking with anger. She realized that Lian must be feeling much the same way, only worse. Seeing the anger flashing in her daughters eyes made Jade wince. She had done the very thing she had tried so hard not to do. She had tried so hard to protect her, to sheild her even as Roy had, even from herself when needed. Taking hesitant step forward she tried again, "Lian..." She closed her eyes for a moment trying to swallow the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. "I know...that I can't ask your forgiveness....I can't change what happened....I just" she opened her eyes again and looked directly into Lian's eyes marveling at how much they looked like her own. "I had to ....come....to say I'm sorry."  
  
Lian stood there quietly for a moment. The whole entire time she had not moved her arms an inch. Keeping her bow and arrow trained on her target. Silent and motionless she gave no outward appearence that she had heard her mother's plea. Finally she spoke, her voice was soft but held no kindness in it, "Why did you kill him? He wasn't a threat!" Lian hadn't intended to sound emotional in her statement but couldn't help it as she blinked hard to keep the burning unspilled tears at bay. She hoped Cheshire wouldn't pick up on it.  
  
Jade had noticed, and as she spoke her own voice softened as she again took another step forward "I didn't know."  
  
Lian jerked backwards, still keeping the arrow on Jade, as she shouted angrily, "And that makes it allright?! 'Your sorry!' You didn't know!'." She calmed down a bit as she gritted her teeth and ground out, "I have a million reasons to kill you...and I've got the graves to prove it. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."  
  
Chesire met her gaze evenly and waited a beat before she answered, "Because your not like me. Your not a murderer. Lian...in this whole life...I can give you nothing ...except this." By this time she had taken another step forward and placed her hands on the bow, over her daughters and slipped the arrow from it's knock. "I can't let you live with the things I've done. It isn't you. I can't let you make this mistake Lian".  
  
By this time Chesire's own eyes were burning with tears as Lian fought to hold herself together. She closed her eyes and finally whispered raggedly to her mother. "Leave. Just....go away. Go back and leave. Please."  
  
Jade at her daughter, her face and beauty so much like her own though she knew that Lians' real beauty came from the inside, her heart. That was Roy's doing, not hers. Blinking through the tears she nodded quietly and stepped back a bit to wait for the police. The sirens in the distance told her it wouldn't be much longer.  
  
Lian turned and walked off into the shadows, trying to get a handle on the emotions warring inside of her. If she didn't think about it, she'd be fine. This was the mantra she played over and over in her mind. So distracted was she that she hadn't paid any attention to where she was going until she reached the alley at the end of the street. Hearing a noise to the left she was startled out of her concentration as her eyes searched the darkness. A tall figure with a wide frame and broad shoulders stepped out from the gloom, his red hair standing out like a beacon. For a moment nothing was said as they looked at each other. Finally Lian spoke, "I was going to marry him." her voice was tinged with sadness and regret.  
  
Roy Harper, one of the founding Titans and a world-class hero in his own right stepped up to wrap his arms tightly around his daughter, rocking her back and forth as she cried, something he had not done since she was little. "I know." 


End file.
